Question: On Israeli TV Channel 2’s program”Meet the Press,” the question of who can solve the country’s security problem and curb the wave of terrorism wave in Israel was discussed. According to a recent poll, Avigdor Liberman and his decisive policy—the death penalty for terrorists, immediate destruction of homes, and so on—came in first, which is not surprising since people have grown tired of terrorism.

Answer: This is not surprising at all! I understand people who are afraid to go out into the streets and are afraid to let their kids play in the yard or go to school or kindergarten.

They see Liberman as a serious man with a tough and serious approach. When he was a minister, serving in different governments and different offices, his work was always well organized.

Question: Does that mean that he made tough decisions?

Answer: I don’t know if they were tough. What do you mean by tough?

There are people who would cry hysterically if you wave a finger at them. There are those who will remain calm if you beat them. And there are people who will whistle as you put them in front of a firing squad. It depends on whom and how!

Therefore, it is impossible to say whether these are tough measures or not. With regard to the people to whom Liberman refers, these are not tough measures. By the way, they understand it very well and even respect it.

Answer: Why not? If there is such a penalty in neighboring countries, why not in Israel? The Torah doesn’t forbid it.

According to the Torah, for example, there cannot be prisons. There is no such concept in the Torah. It is because people come out of there even more corrupt, and this applies to every country.

Question: Then, what? Let’s say that the death penalty would be introduced. Can such a bold policy change the state of affairs in the country?

Answer:Yes, it clearly would change everything. We must put things in order at home. Our country cannot exist as others do. There is plenty to do here.

Whatever we do must be focused on the overall advancement of all of mankind. We must set an example of how we relate to the various manifestations of good and evil. This is our mission![175652]From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 1/24/16

Question:An event was held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, “One Day in the Shoes of a Refugee.” This was an event organized by former refugees and NGO volunteers. They suggested that all the participants of the forum spend one hour in the shoes of a refugee and feel what it is like.

Answer:I don’t know what the participants in the forum felt in the shoes of the refugees. They aren’t really oriented emotionally toward this since money is primarily what is important to them. There are fifty-nine million refugees in the world, but I think that there are many more immigrants. The problem is not the refugees but people who are moving to other places. How many have left Russia and its neighboring countries? It is not possible to count them.

Humanity is beginning to lose connection with the earth. A person transcends his origin, his birthplace, his prior education, and his family, and gradually stops feeling a connection with the places that were close to his heart. As the world advances, people disconnect from the earth because we are in a new situation, in transition to the next level of development.

People are ready to live without a connection to a particular point on the planet or to a particular society. A virtual world exists for them. Even their perception is becoming virtual. They are ready to create completely new social and economic relationships.

We will stop pulling everything possible from nature. We will stop depleting it and begin to consume only what is necessary. Humanity will advance in its understanding, in its sensing and inner development, into the general feeling of nature.

Question: Are you optimistic?

Answer: I am always optimistic. The problem is only how the new world will be born, how we will go through the labor pains. We could be pressured so much that the next level will be born after the loss of several billion people in bloody wars, in suffering, and long labor pains.

I would like, and I know that it is possible, to do this differently, easily, practically, and well. The wisdom of Kabbalah offers this way. The next level is ready for us. There is no doubt about it, but let’s try to reach it in a good way. I hope that humanity will hear this in spite of everything.[175534]From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 1/22/16

Question: What does it mean that “Bina went out”? Can Sefirot move around according to their will?

Answer: This refers to bestowal. I can bestow in all places without any restriction since this is the force of Bina, the Light of Hassadim (Mercy). With Hassadim, I can be in any place without any boundaries and bestow to anyone that is suitable for my bestowal. And with the Light of Hochma, there are different conditions.

The fetus enjoys the Light of Hassadim, in other words, enjoys being similar to the upper. It doesn’t perform any actions, but is similar as a result of his devotion and self-annulment. It wants to be like the mother, like the Creator. The fetus can’t express itself as the Creator in practical bestowal, but it expresses its preparedness to be like Him passively.[127417]From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/13/14,The Book of Zohar

New Life #677 – The Meaning Of Tu BishvatDr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

Tu Bishvat represents a special state in which a person sees the fruit of his work of planting himself in the right environment. Having performed the 39 labors, he is rewarded with fruit: the fruit of the tree of knowledge and the fruit of the tree of life.

The impression from the spiritual life of the past still remains in the Jewish people so they can renew it today. But in order to develop properly, the society has to help us advance toward the spiritual goal and we will grow like the tree of the field in it.

The first phase in the growing process is the recognition of good and evil. We have to accurately define what is good and what is evil and perform self-checks, internal scrutiny, of ourselves and those around us.

The goal is to reach the attribute of love and bestowal. In order to do so, we have to ascend above our egoistic nature, which wants to suckle everything for its own sake, and acquire an opposite nature, which wants to give everything to others, to fill them, as it is written: “I have seen an opposite world.”

The more we want to ascend, the more we have to connect to people below because our attitude toward all of creation and especially to people is what connects us to the upper spiritual forces.

If we change our attitude from receiving to giving, we will discover the upper world and suddenly see a new reality in which everyone is in perfect love and wholeness, loving one another. To do so, we don’t need to correct others, but ourselves, and then we will feel love, the Shechina, peace, and pleasure that fill this world. This is the fruit we will eventually reach.[175520]From KabTV’s “New Life #677 – The Meaning Of Tu Bishvat,” 1/14/16

New Life #676 – “For Is The Tree Of The Field Man”Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

It is written, “for is the tree of the field man” (Deuteronomy 20:19); but it must be precisely understood from what field a person is born. Human society was built from our natural drives, not our knowledge from the level of Adam (Man). The Adam in us was born from a drive for internal development that exists within us. And its success depends on its ability to approach the useful, to avoid the harmful, and to be exact about the definitions.

A person doesn’t want to feel limited. He feels that he has everything, but he has nothing. This world has become too small for him and he wants to escape to eternity, to see true reality. When he wants to know the reason for everything that happens and to understand the general law of nature, then he is linked to a higher and eternal field of knowledge in which he grows like a tree of the field. He draws from his upper roots and discovers the perfect law of connection between everyone.

Our roots are on a level higher than we are, which we must penetrate in our development.[175393]From KabTV’s “New Life #676 – For Is The Tree Of The Field Man,” 1/18/16